Twelve talented, energetic Valley High School students are working as local historians/interviewers for the OSU Folklore Studies Project in cooperation with Shawnee State University and the Lucasville Area Historical Society. Thanks to all who are collaborating on this project. Special kudos go to David Adkins for recruiting this amazing crew. And, of course, to Dr. Cristina Benedetti, Ohio State Instructional Specialist and Folk and Traditional Arts Contractor at the Ohio Arts Council, who organized the training and coordinated the project.
The following Valley
students are working on the interviews:
Bre Call, Karsyn Conaway,
Rylie Smith, Kathryn Wood, Evie Phillips, Jared Phillips, Kaity
Howard, Bailee Day, Hutson Oyer, Nick Crabtree, Karrie Jarrells, and
Amelia Slone.
The interviews are true
field studies that will be cataloged and archived for
historical research. They will become a permanent addition to the
records of the universities and the historical society. The focus of
this study features members of what is commonly known as the
"Greatest Generation." Local citizens have graciously
consented to be interviewed by the students. Work will be
completed this summer.
“It is, I believe, the greatest generation any society
has ever produced.”
– Tom
Brokaw
The Greatest Generation
is a 1998 book by journalist Tom Brokaw that profiles those who grew
up in the United States during the deprivation of the Great
Depression, and then went on to fight in World War II, as well as
those whose productivity within the home front during World War II
made a decisive material contribution to the war effort.
The book popularized the
term “Greatest Generation” for the name of the cultural
generation before the Silent Generation. Demographers and researchers
typically use the early 1900s as starting birth years and ending
birth years in the mid to late 1920s.
“The greatest generation was formed first by the Great Depression. They shared everything – meals, jobs, clothing.”
– Tom
Brokaw
Brokaw asserts, these men and women developed values of "personal responsibility, duty, honor and faith." These characteristics helped them to defeat Hitler, build the American economy, make advances in science and implement visionary programs like Medicare. According to Brokaw, "at every stage of their lives they were part of historic challenges and achievements of a magnitude the world had never before witnessed."
Brokaw credits the
Greatest Generation with much of the freedom and affluence that
Americans enjoy today. "They have given the succeeding
generations the opportunity to accumulate great economic wealth,
political muscle, and the freedom from foreign oppression to make
whatever choices they like."
Despite these
achievements, Brokaw believes the Greatest Generation remains
remarkably humble about what they've done. He concludes, "It is
a generation that, by and large, made no demands of homage from those
who followed and prospered economically, politically, and culturally
because of its sacrifices."
Brokaw himself admits that
the men and women of this time made mistakes when it came to
McCarthyism, racism and women's rights. Furthermore, some skeptics
argue, the perceived "greatness" of that generation is due
in part to the clear good-versus-evil nature of World War II.
Most agree, more than any
other generation, the Greatest Generation planted their roots in the
United States. For a half century before World War II, home ownership
rates were consistently around 46 %. By 1950, that rate was 55 %. It
had risen to 62 % by 1960 – stabilizing the U. S. economy.
That generation set high
standards for their children and imbued in them the value of
education. The average educational attainment of those born in the
first quarter of the twentieth century was less than nine years; for
the following generation (the children of the Greatest Generation),
education attainment had grown to an average of twelve years—parents
made sure their kids graduated from high school. More than 40 percent
of baby boomers graduated from college; only 10 percent of their
parents did.
Credit for the recovery
after World War II and the U.S. ascendancy as the dominant world
power of the latter half of the 20th century goes as much
to the people of Greatest Generation as it does to its leaders.
Richard Sousa. “The
Greatest Generation.” Hoover Institution. Stanford University.
November 9, 2010.
Clint Pumphrey. “How
the Greatest Generation Works.” 2019.
Author Claude Davis offers
commentary about characteristics of the Greatest Generation. Granted,
the descriptions are generalizations. However, there is little doubt
these hallmarks present valuable lessons practiced by our ancestors
that we can use to guide our lives.
Things To Learn From
the Greatest Generation:
“When they made a
decision, they accepted the consequences of it – good or bad. And
if the consequences were bad, they looked for a solution instead of
someone else to blame ...
“They believed in make
do and mend. If something was good enough, they wouldn’t even think
of replacing it with a more fashionable, but unnecessary, model ...
“They had a simple
attitude to aspirations: If you wanted something, you worked until
you’d earned the money to buy it. Taking on unnecessary debt was
irresponsible; expecting others to pay your way was lazy ...
“They would take quiet
pride in a job well done, but work was a serious business, not just a
status symbol. A job wasn’t something you did to feel challenged or
fulfilled; it was something you did because it needed to be done. If
you weren’t happy with it, that was tough; you gritted your teeth
and got on with it ...
“When they were faced
with a challenge, they didn’t give up and feel traumatized. They
looked for a way to overcome it. The farmers whose lands were
blighted by the Dust Bowl didn’t sit back and wait for the
government to help them; they moved to look for new jobs, even if
that meant heading for the coasts …
“To them, promises were
something to be taken seriously – whether that promise was an
employment contract, a marriage vow or a loan agreement – and a big
part of someone’s image was how trustworthy they were …
“They took life
seriously. That doesn’t mean they didn’t enjoy their lives,
because they certainly did – look at the movies, music and
literature they created if you have any doubts about that. But they
did know that you have to take the rough with the smooth, and that
simply giving up when things got difficult wasn’t an option ...
“They didn’t get
stressed over things they couldn’t change. They didn’t obsess
about trivial problems. And they didn’t over-complicate their
lives. They found something that worked – a car, a style of
dressing, a relationship – and then they stuck with it ...
“And, most of all, the
Greatest Generation were modest. They didn’t feel the urge to share
every aspect of their lives with everyone they met (and social media
would have horrified them!) They didn’t boast about their
accomplishments, and shunned those who did.”
Claude
Davis. “6 Essential Differences Between the
Greatest Generation and The Ones That Followed.”
www.askaprepper.com.
October 26, 2017.
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